How to Use die-off in a Sentence

die-off

1 of 2 noun
Definition of die-offnext
  • Between April and June of that year, there was a large-scale die-off of wild birds there, again traced to H5N1.
    — Helen Branswell, STAT, 9 May 2024
  • So maybe less daunting and more just gross, are these mass fish die-offs that are smelling up beaches.
    — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 19 June 2023
  • The investigation, much like the mass die-off of the bees, was unique, Cooper said.
    — Caleb Lunetta, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Jan. 2024
  • But that die-off was unfolding hundreds of miles south of here.
    — Max Chesnes, Orlando Sentinel, 26 June 2024
  • All of this can add up to a mass die-off, driven by the changes in how energy moves through ecosystems.
    — WIRED, 8 Nov. 2023
  • This summer’s die-off happened to both wild elkhorn and to corals bred to be more heat-tolerant.
    — Eric Zerkel, CNN, 8 Oct. 2023
  • What’s more, some die-offs are impossible to detect at all.
    — Marion Renault, The New Republic, 3 May 2023
  • Yellow spots, sudden die-off of isolated patches of the lawn ...
    — Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 21 July 2023
  • The die-off is not expected to have a lasting effect on the lake's fish populations.
    — Tanya Wildt, Detroit Free Press, 11 May 2024
  • Cows largely recover from H5N1, unlike the mass die-offs seen in other species.
    — Alexander Tin, CBS News, 3 May 2024
  • Western red cedar, western hemlock and big leaf maple have all seen die-offs and growth declines in recent years tied to climate.
    — Nathan Gilles, Fortune, 28 Dec. 2023
  • But the recent die-off of salmon fry was unintentional.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Mar. 2024
  • Florida has been seeing sea surface records at hot tub settings, leading to massive die-off of coral in the Keys.
    — William Booth, Washington Post, 1 Aug. 2023
  • On the state’s east coast, decades of sewage and fertilizer pollution had led to a mass die-off of seagrass, which the animals rely on for food.
    — Jason Gulley Catrin Einhorn, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024
  • The Oregon incident comes on the heels of a mass Chinook salmon smolt die-off in Northern California.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Apr. 2024
  • Bees in the wild have succumbed to a planet-wide die-off, taking almonds, avocados and honey down with them.
    — Jesse Green, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2024
  • The pollution blew onto the ridge, causing a massive vegetation die-off and leading to a decades-long cleanup.
    — Lizzie Johnson and Lauren Tierney, Anchorage Daily News, 27 July 2023
  • Scientists have warned that the heat wave could trigger mass die-offs of coral, which could have profound implications for marine ecosystems in the area.
    — Denise Chow, NBC News, 28 July 2023
  • Authorities are also studying whether a biotoxin or virus might be causing the die-off.
    — Diana Durán, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2023
  • This further bolsters the theory that a weather event triggered their die-off, rather than mass starvation brought on by a prolonged drought, per the New York Times.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Aug. 2023
  • But the water around Florida and the Caribbean this summer was up to 3 degrees Celsius above normal, causing mass bleaching and the die-off, Williamson said.
    — Eric Zerkel, CNN, 8 Oct. 2023
  • Multiple factors contributed to the accelerating die-off of these groups in the past decade.
    — Jeff Goldsmith, STAT, 17 Jan. 2024
  • Since that mass urchin die-off, only 12 percent of the original population has been restored—and urchins and coral reefs alike have suffered as a result.
    — Carolyn Hagler, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 May 2023
  • The dramatic die-offs were largely attributed to drought, disease and insects such as bark beetles, which prey on weakened trees.
    — Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2023
  • The effects of a mass coral die-off could be devastating, as 25% of all marine life, including dolphins, turtles and sharks, depend on the reef for survival.
    — Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 20 July 2023
  • Bleaching events are becoming more frequent, putting corals on a path for a mass die-off by the end of the century if the planet warms more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
    — Ryan Kellman, NPR, 17 Apr. 2024
  • Corals are more likely to experience die-offs during these bleaching events.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 26 July 2023
  • In Florida Bay in the 1980s, a lack of freshwater funneling into the harbor caused a spike in salinity levels and seagrass die-off.
    — Robin Catalano, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 June 2023
  • Their numbers and relative health would be more carefully tracked, and researchers could raise the red flag if there were a sudden die-off of the species that might not be noticeable when they are lumped in with the other common dolphins.
    — Erika I. Ritchie, Orange County Register, 11 July 2024
  • But because of the holiday, city officials and much of the city’s parks department are out of office and unable to immediately address the fish die-off, according to spokeswoman Bosques.
    — Kyle Martin, The Mercury News, 5 July 2024
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die off

2 of 2 verb
  • Since the shad died off a few years ago, the bass fishing hasn’t been the same.
    — Staff Report, Orange County Register, 27 May 2024
  • Through tonight: Gusty breezes will die off through the evening and into the night.
    — Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 8 Aug. 2023
  • There’s a reason most of those types of point-and-shoots died off.
    — Antonio G. Di Benedetto, The Verge, 11 May 2023
  • As summer ends, the queens stop laying eggs and the colony starts to die off.
    — René A. Guzman, ExpressNews.com, 1 Sep. 2020
  • The next 24 hours are a lot like the last, although with some luck that wind will die off a bit over time.
    — Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2021
  • Much of the sea grass being restored will die off again.
    — Time, 12 July 2023
  • The cells can then die off early, which leads to anemia.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 16 Nov. 2023
  • But the membership began to decline in the 2010s as the old-timers died off.
    — Deborah Netburn, Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2023
  • Winds die off a good deal with sunset, then wane further through the night.
    — Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024
  • These strong gusts will then die off by Sunday evening.
    — Gerry Díaz, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Oct. 2022
  • Storms will be most likely from 1 p.m. through the evening hours and should die off later tonight.
    — Leigh Morgan, al, 16 May 2022
  • Winds die off a bit as temperatures fall to a range across the 40s for lows.
    — Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2023
  • Since then, she’s watched the forests completely die off.
    — NBC News, 21 Sep. 2021
  • Sometimes an organ gives up the ghost while the mind is spared and sometimes the mind starts to die off, while the body is fine.
    — Amy Dickinson, oregonlive, 3 Oct. 2020
  • If nests are too warm and larvae die off, that affects the entire colony.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 May 2024
  • The cells then die off early, leaving a lack of healthy red blood cells, or anemia.
    — WIRED, 16 Nov. 2023
  • With the advent of the New Deal and the social-welfare state, the machines began to die off, and the police were on their own.
    — Kevin Baker, Harper's Magazine, 18 Aug. 2020
  • Since then, the coronavirus has been shown to die off in the presence of UV rays with the same wavelength as sunlight.
    — Rachel Gutman, The Atlantic, 20 Nov. 2021
  • Her models show that without change, the colony will die off within 50 years.
    — Terry Spencer, ajc, 30 Mar. 2022
  • Through tonight: Winds die off with the sunset while skies remain mostly clear.
    — Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2024
  • Other species may not be able to outrun the rapid changes in their habitat and could simply die off.
    — Elizabeth Rayne, Ars Technica, 14 Nov. 2023
  • When the water is warm from late spring though the early fall, the bite stays strong in the mornings but usually dies off around 10 a.m.
    — Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 18 Apr. 2023
  • Fortunately, winds die off during the day, taking the edge off the chill.
    — David Streit, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2023
  • Once the army of white blood cells and their antibody foot soldiers have defeated the virus, most die off.
    — Allysia Finley, WSJ, 17 Jan. 2022
  • Storms will tend to die off with sunset, leaving clearing skies overnight.
    — Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 1 July 2022
  • Those species could then die off due to a lack of repopulation.
    — Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 17 Mar. 2022
  • After the fruit has been harvested from a pineapple plant, the mother plant begins to die off.
    — Grace Haynes, Southern Living, 11 Mar. 2024
  • After adult salmon have spawned and died off in the fall, the Yurok people rely on the long, ugly fish for sustenance in the winter months.
    — oregonlive, 17 June 2023
  • Both of these plants are winter annuals, so will die off on their own by summer.
    — Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 23 Mar. 2022
  • This way, McGee’s beds will look beautiful throughout the changing of the seasons, even as the annual plants in the middle die off.
    — Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 May 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'die-off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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